Saving money on charging

Last year I moved house and this year I replaced my Nissan Leaf with a VW ID.3. A good choice, newer – even though second-hand – and 200% more range. But it needed a different home charger – one with a type 2 connector. I’d been using an untidy lash-up so now I needed a real home charger.

There are lots of home chargers. They charge at up to 7kW and promise lots of advantages such as access to money-saving dynamic tariffs. But they cost £300 to £700. And then there’s installation cost. One electrician quoted £1,150 to install a new consumer unit, mine has no spare circuits, run a thick cable on a safe and inconspicuous route, tricky in my house, and connect the charger. Would it be worth it?

Some chargers do give access to EV-friendly tariffs that allow you to charge at low rates. But I estimated that EV charging would only be 10% of my power use and the tariffs I looked at would charge more than my current rate on the other 90%. So the total cost would be higher. Bad idea.

Which just leaves charging speed. At 7kW I could charge the ID.3 from 20% to 80% in about 6 hours. That’s nice but I rarely need to charge it that much as I generally keep it charged above 40%. When I do I can usually put it on charge the previous afternoon. So If I start charging at 6 pm and plan to leave next morning at 8 am I’ll have 14 hours to charge it. That’s more than enough to charge it from 20% to 80% or, more likely, from 40% to 100%.

So I just didn’t need an expensive charger but I did need something tidy. I employed an electrician to install an external three-pin socket on a spur from an existing ring main. He did a good job and charged £276. I bought a charging cable, cost £106, which is permanently plugged in and attached to the wall. Also a plastic holder for the connector on the cable, £14. Total cost £401. Saving £750.

So far it’s been easy to use, has charged at 3kW and has had zero faults. Why pay more?